PONTIAC - Pontiac Grade School District #429 board members and administrators attended a conference over the weekend which drew 5,000 school officials from across the state.

The 2007 Joint Annual Conference of the Illinois Association of School Board, Illinois Association of School Administrators and Illinois Association of School Business Officials met in Chicago over the weekend to give officials the opportunity to meet and learn from each other. Over 110 workshops and panel discussions were offered, and it appeared that one of the more popular discussions was hosted by District #429.

"Our session was packed because it seems that every school has a problem with bullying," District #429 Superintendent Steve Graham said. "It seems to be getting worse and getting more violent."

The school is one of 11 pilot districts for an anti-bullying program which has been in affect for approximately one year. The program is called "Steps to Respect," and encourages teachers, parents and children to recognize bullying, which Graham defines as someone inflicting pain or harm to another, and take a proactive response in order to address it. Learning activities could have the students watch a movie and point out instances where bullying might occur and steps on how the characters could resolve the issue.

Although he did not have specific figures, Graham said that bullying has significantly reduced in District #429 schools, and that teachers who have been trained in the program "love it," and that children are really responding to it.

Graham said that at least 150 officials attended the discussion, hosted by various teachers and officials from District #429, and he also said that it appeared bullying was a universal problem as many audience members asked questions about the program and how it could help. The conference proved to be a good learning experience for those involved as Graham said that these events are sometimes the only way for board members to better develop.

"I thought the presentation went well and that our teachers did a fine job," District #429 Board Member Ed Lipinski said. "This is the first one that I went to so it was a new experience, but I did get to learn about some of the legislative issues."

In other school news, the board voted at their last meeting Thursday night to administer and purchase Stanford 10 testing. Graham said that it is a standardized, national test that would give teachers and administrators a better understanding of how students average on a national level and how they can change curriculum to focus on problem areas.. The testing form closely resembles the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), and the Stanford 10 will be able to help students become more prepared for the ISAT.

The Stanford 10 will be given through second to eighth grades, Graham said. The overall cost for the test materials and scoring process was $13,000.